Hedge fund billionaire and convicted insider trader Leon Cooperman lashes out at 'people at home trading their COVID checks' on GameStop and says rally will 'end badly'
Billionaire hedge fund manager Leon Cooperman lashed out at small investors fueling the GameStop stock surge Thursday, warning traders that the frenzy will 'end badly'.
The Omega Advisors CEO, who was convicted of insider trading in 2016, appeared on CNBC's Fast Money: Halftime Report, where he complained about the group of amateur investors that banded together to buy and hold GameStop stock.
The campaign effectively sent the company's shares soaring, resulting in a short squeeze that forced desperate hedge funds to bid higher and higher to cover their shorts and roiled the broader market.
During the interview, an irate Cooperman said the near-zero interest rates imposed by the government as well as the COVID-19 stimulus checks were to blame for the current state of the stock market.
'The reason the market is doing what it's doing is, people are sitting at home, getting their checks from the government, basically trading for no commissions and no interest rates,' he said.
Leon Cooperman lashed out at small investors fueling the GameStop stock surge during an interview with CNBC Thursday
The Omega Advisors CEO was convicted of insider trading in 2016 and has a reported net worth of $3.2billion
'I'm not saying they're stupid. Show me a guy with a good record consistently, and I'll show you a smart guy.'
The 77-year-old is not among the hedge fund managers grappling with losses as a result of the surge, but went on to warn that the situation would ultimately 'end badly' as 'water seeks its own level.'
'I'm not damning them. I'm just saying from my experience, this will end in tears,' he added.
Cooperman, who has an estimated net worth of $3.2billion, has been an outspoken critic of Democrats' proposed policies to tax the wealthy as well as claims that the rich do not pay their 'fair share'.
The idea appeared to strike a nerve again on Thursday's interview as Cooperman claimed it was just a way to punish the rich.
'This fair share is a bulls**t concept. It's just a way of attacking wealthy people, and I think it's inappropriate,' he said. 'We've all got to work together and pull together.'
Robinhood on Thursday morning displayed an alert telling users who owned GameStop that they could sell the stock, but not buy it. Other users saw the message 'This stock is not supported on Robinhood'
Cooperman's on-air meltdown quickly went viral with users ridiculing the billionaire
Despite being highly critical of a predominantly liberal policy, Cooperman admitted he had voted for Joe Biden because he voted 'by my values not my pocketbook.'
Clips of Cooperman's on-air meltdown quickly ended up on social media where users couldn't help but ridicule the billionaire's contempt.
The interview drew comparisons to Cooperman's feud with Senator Elizabeth Warren in 2019 when she vowed to end Wall Street's 'stranglehold on the economy' and raise taxes on the rich.
Cooperman had called the then-presidential candidate's proposal to put a new tax on the nation's wealthiest people a plan to 'penalize success' and said her ideas 'made no sense.'
In a subsequent CNBC interview, he teared up as he got emotional while complaining that Warren was painting billionaires as 'deadbeats', in a clip that later went viral.
Cooperman famously teared up during an interview with CNBC in 2019 as he complained that Senator Elizabeth Warren was painting billionaires as 'deadbeats'
